Great American Beer Festival 2018

Wednesday, September 05, 2018

For the 37th
consecutive year, craft beer fanatics will congregate at the Colorado
Convention Centre from September 20-22, 2018 for the renowned Great American Beer Festival (GABF).This will be
my first time attending the festival/competition, and it’ll certainly be crossed off my bucket list.

I know it
sounds a bit crazy to travel to Denver for a craft beer festival, but I can
assure you that this isn’t any ordinary craft beer festival.It is actually the largest ticketed beer
festival in the United States and this year’s event will offer 62,000 attendees
the opportunity to sample over 4,000 beers from more than 800 breweries.Not only is the festival a sampling event,
but it is also a beer competition.Breweries will enter their beers into the competition which will be judged by the festival’s Professional Judge Panel. At
the end of the event, the panel will identify three beers that best represent
each beer-style category as described and adopted by the Great American Beer
Festival. The beers will be awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze in over 102
beer-style categories. For 2018, new categories have been introduced, such as
the hazy or juicy ale styles. The addition of this trio of styles include
representation of what may be referred to as New England IPAs or West Coast Hazy
IPAs. The styles will be identified in the guidelines and Brewers Association
competitions as “Juicy or Hazy Pale Ale,” “Juicy or Hazy IPA” and “Juicy or
Hazy Double IPA.”

Expanded
Festival Footprint: With the addition of 100,000 square feet—a 17 percent
increase over 2017 and bringing the festival footprint to 584,000 square
feet—attendees will have more space to hang out and mingle with brewers and
fellow beer lovers while discovering new breweries, learning more about beer at
educational and experiential programs, playing games, and just having fun.

Reconfigured
Festival Format: Breweries in the festival hall will be arranged in
alphabetical order this year. Pro Tip: Breweries with “the” in the title will be
listed under the first name following “the.” (i.e. The Bruery will be under B)

Collaboration
Competition and Booth: In recognition of the collaborative spirit of the craft
brewing community, we’ve added a new competition this year. Up to 48
collaboration beers will be evaluated in a Best of Show format. Many of the
competition entries will be served during GABF at the Collaboration Competition
Booth. Don’t miss this chance to sample these very unique and limited-edition
beers!

Expanded Meet
the Brewer Section: Expanded by popular demand! Meet the Brewer is very special
opportunity for passionate beer fans to start conversations with their brewing
heroes, learn more about their beers and talk shop. Look for these booths
located in the center of the festival hall. Two more islands have been added
for 2018 to accommodate up to 165 breweries—a 40 percent increase!Additional
Hangout Spots and Pavilions: Joining the floor this year will be the 12,600
square foot Jameson Caskmates Barrel-Aged Beer Garden, which will feature 17
small and independent Jameson craft brewery partners and their limited-edition
Jameson barrel-aged beer; and the 3,600 square foot Buffalo Wild Wings Sports
Bar, where attendees can kick back, relax and enjoy independent craft beer and wings
while cheering on their favorite teams on 10 TVs.

If you can’t
squeeze in a last minute trip to Denver this year be sure to scope out tickets
for the 2019 event. I will be attending
the Friday evening session, the Saturday afternoon member’s only session and some super fun media events surrounding GABF.You can follow along with me on my social media accounts for live stories and photos at this year’s festival.